Sources: After Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba lost the Senate election, the Bank of Japan is expected to stick to its gradual rate hike stance

Odaily News Bank of Japan officials see little need to change their monetary policy stance of gradually raising interest rates after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba suffered a setback in the Senate election, according to people familiar with the matter. Although officials will continue to closely monitor the governments fiscal policy trends, they still believe it is appropriate to continue to raise the benchmark interest rate if the economic outlook is realized as expected. The policy committee led by Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda is likely to keep the interest rate unchanged at 0.5% at its meeting next week, people familiar with the matter said. With Japan-U.S. trade negotiations still ongoing, officials hope to assess the impact of the agreement on inflation trends and the economic outlook before raising interest rates again. People familiar with the matter said that although the election results will not change the Bank of Japans policy path for now, some officials believe it is necessary to be vigilant about the upside risks of inflation that may arise from significant fiscal easing. Officials have noticed that inflation risks are rising as soaring prices of food such as rice have pushed up prices beyond expectations. (Jinshi)